MAIN TOPIC
© Photo from the private resources of Adam Ragiel
e are talking to Adam Ragiel (Poland),
Mortuary Technician, Dissection Technician
and Embalming Technician, Tanatopractice
Instructor, who has been working in the funeral
industry since 1999. In 2008, he established
the first independent Polish funeral school
– Polskie Centrum Szkolnictwa Funeralnego,
which is an Associate Member of FIAT-IFTA.
He is also a pioneer of the technique of temporary
preservation of corpses, a lecturer and the author
of the book “Without Fear: How a Man Dies”.
KATARZYNA SUPA: What are your general
observations about funeral education in Poland?
What kind of training is provided? Are there any
standards in place?
ADAM RAGIEL: There are several trainings available
on the Polish market related to the professional
preparation of the deceased. The first basic training
is Sanitary preparation of the deceased for burial,
transport or cremation. The training programme
includes
activities
related
to
disinfection,
spill-proofing
and
post-mortem
protection,
post-mortem toileting, dressing of the body,
post-mortem cosmetics and make-up. This training
consists of an introductory theoretical part and
a practical class, on which we place the greatest
emphasis. The training sessions are organized in
groups of up to eight people, so each participant
has the opportunity to do all the activities in
practice and can have their individual questions
answered.
PRACTICE,
PRACTICE,
PRACTICE
IMPROVING SKILLS IS
THE WAY TO A NEW
QUALITY OF FUNERAL
SERVICE
Interviewer: Katarzyna Supa
Another training course is Temporary Preservation
of Cadaver, which we introduced to the Polish
market in 2010 due to the need to slow down
decomposition due to post-mortem processes,
taking also into consideration the length of time for
land transport of the deceased to eastern countries,
as well as keeping costs down for the families.
Temporary preservation is performed quickly and
cost-effectively by injecting liquids that slow down
the decomposition process into the peritoneal
and abdominal cavities, so that the formation of
bacteria and gasses is significantly slowed down.
This process can be performed very quickly and
under all conditions, which is why it has become so
popular for the international transport of deceased
persons. This training is organized in groups of up
to four people.
The Cadaver Embalming Techniques training
we provide is in line with worldwide techniques
for cadaver embalming procedures. This training
aims to prepare freelancers, employees of
funeral companies and morticians to embalm
human corpses, at every stage of the process.
Embalming is performed in order to stop
decomposition processes and change it to
a process of mineralisation of the body, i.e. drying.
No. 99 – AUTUMN 2022 | THANOS MAGAZINE
22